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WILKES-BARRE TWP. - In a few days, Syracuse Crunch goaltender Kristers Gudlevskis will be heading to Sochi, Russia, to play for his native Latvia in the Olympic Games.

On Wednesday, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins didn't give him the fondest of send-offs.

Eric Hartzell outdueled his netminding counterpart, pitching a 20-save shutout, and Harry Zolnierczyk scored a third-period highlight-reel goal to help the Penguins blank the Crunch, 4-0, at the Mohegan Sun Arena.

The Penguins came into the game looking to make amends for a pair of recent losses. They were coming off a 2-0 shutout loss to Hershey on Sunday, and the last time the Crunch visited the arena, they handed the Penguins a thorough 4-2 beating on Jan. 8.

The Penguins bounced back on both counts, breaking the shutout streak by taking a 1-0 lead in the first three minutes of the first period and never giving Syracuse a chance to get back in the game.

The first goal was an ugly one, as Gudlevskis made a save on a Mike Carman shot from the left hash marks, but he didn't cover it, referee Ryan Murphy never lost sight of it and Paul Thompson shoved it over the line at 2:11.

"Sometimes when you get a greasy, gritty goal like that, it just kind of loosens everything up," coach John Hynes said. "It's nice particularly when you're coming off a shutout because you're not looking for the perfect play. It was something that was gritty that went in the net. That's usually how you get out of those little funks."

The Penguins added to their lead about 10 minutes later when Philip Samuelsson took a pass from Simon Despres at the right point and fired a shot on net that Tom Kostopoulos tipped past Gudlevskis at 12:23.

"Syracuse, last time they were in our building, they came in and gave us a little butt-whipping, so we were extra up for this game," Hartzell said. "We didn't want to give them anything."

Syracuse righted its ship in the second period, outshooting the Penguins 8-4, but Hartzell was on top of his game.

He stopped a Vladislav Namestnikov rebound attempt with a flick of his left pad about five minutes into the period and smothered a Philippe Paradis bid as he drove to the net about five minutes later.

Hartzell has been sensational in January, going 5-1 with a 1.24 goals-against average and .949 save percentage.

"A lot of it is just experience, getting a chance to play a few more games," Hartzell said. "The team's been playing awesome and we're getting some bounces right now."

The Penguins put the game away with a strong start to the third period. Zolnierczyk hit the highlight reel at 1:31 to make it 3-0 and Denver Manderson scored his first AHL goal when he finished off a cross-ice pass from Kostopoulos at 7:51.

On Zolnierczyk's goal, he skated up the right wing and split defensemen Joey Mormina and Artem Sergeev diagonally as he cut to the net, then flipped a puck to the top corner while being tackled.

"I thought I could chip it behind them both and jump to the middle there," Zolnierczyk said. "I think it was a little bit of luck at the end to beat him over the glove."

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